New clubs give Newton High School students new opportunities
by Kaylee Mangual
Newton High School gives the students opportunities to experience life outside of school by having clubs after school for the students to join with their liking or interest. There are many clubs for different topics and interests that were made for every student due to its variety and mix. The clubs are mainly held at the end of the school day on certain days, but even sometimes for “club meetings' ' the advisors might hold it in lunch. The students have ways to find out which clubs to join, one being the teacher voices it, two, morning announcements, three, the Newton website listed with the different kinds of clubs there are. The new clubs in Newton are the NHS News which is where this article came from, E-Sports(opened last year), Tabletop Gaming (2 years ago), Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA), and Volleyball Club.
The Brave Bulletin newspaper club is run by Dr. Caruso, who is the only advisor running this club. The idea for a school newspaper originated last year as Dr. Caruso noticed there wasn’t a journalism class in the building or let alone a school newspaper. Dr. Caruso thought making a newspaper club would help benefit the students so he proposed to the administration a new journalism class, where the students would learn about journalism, and also be a part of the school newspaper. Dr. Caruso states, “It really came about the idea of a new course and that course was Journalism.” Every person who takes journalism is essentially a part of the newspaper. In the class, the students write stories and the stories could be a part of the school newspaper so if you are in the class, you potentially are writing for the school newspaper. It is the first publication in a long time as it has been some time since a school newspaper was published in the building, so this will carry on the good work that was previously done in the school. The Brave Bulletin, being a new club, is starting from scratch and will continue on in the building.
The new club Tabletop Gaming Group, is run by the only advisor Mr. Iliff. There are 21 students actively involved in our club. Students gather in the organization known as the Tabletop Gaming Group every Monday night to play the fantasy role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons. Students design their own characters, write their backstories, and then play those characters with a group of other players. Together, they tackle problems of a fantastical nature and embark on grand expeditions. They would have to overcome a number of challenging traps and riddles or fight against nasty goblins. They might gather information to unravel a mystery or defend a hamlet from a cruel magician. The game is overseen by a dungeon master, who chooses the kinds of difficulties the group will encounter. The only restriction is your imagination. It's a good time that is enjoyed in a welcoming, safe social environment.
The club that is freshly new to Newton High School is the Volleyball club. The club is run by Mrs. Raymond who many may know last year going by the name Ms. Lugero. The main purpose of the club came from Mrs. Raymond realizing there was an interest in playing girls volleyball and her main purpose of the club is to have as many girls wanting to play, be able to play. Mrs. Raymond had broken down her goals as short term and long term goals. The long term goal of the Volleyball club team is to have their club team evolve into a competitive inter-squad JV team at least, and their short term goal is to have all the club members become comfortable and be able to perform the basic skills in volleyball. Mrs. Raymond, while giving insight on the new Volleyball club states that “Our basic bump, set, spike, serves, getting it over the net, things like that so that this way we will be, when the time comes, we can be competitors in the game.” Mrs. Raymond and her girls hope to make it a team next year, depending on the attendance which is extremely good for it being a new club. If there is a team, there will be tryouts to gather the strongest players, but they are hoping there is a team so they can cultivate people's skills so the team will be alive, regardless of when they started playing.
Although E-Sports is not new to Newton High School this year, it is still one of the newer clubs in our school. The club started last year in March, and Mr. Seryapov is the only advisor for E-Sports. The club is active year-round; the competitive season is in the Spring, but they start meeting in September to start practicing, to start getting the team together, so that in Spring they have a team ready to compete. The club allows all grade-level students to be in the club with no tryouts. However, to be on a competitive team, students need to prove their skills, try out and come to practice. The goal of the club is to get students together, give them something to do after school, and give students a chance to be part of a team, grow, and compete against other schools.
The main focus of the club is to play games; there are a variety of games, board games, chess, and computer games. The four main games they play are Valorant, Rocket League, Smash, and Mario Kart. In two of the games, Valorant and Rocket League, the club competed in the league against other schools. Students who participated in Rocket League made it to the playoffs. Mr. Seryapov stated, “We work together to be a team, to grow to respect each other and online players.” He added the team focuses on, “How do we lose, how do we win, how do we react to that, just building that sportsmanship, people skills, relationships and respect towards each other and people we don’t even see.” Mr. Seryapov is passionate about his club and wishes to continue on the club by having more people join the club over the years, and to have more staff members help him with being an advisor for the club.
Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA) is run by Mrs. Botti, who is the only advisor for this club. Ryan Nicol, a junior, got the club off the ground and pitched the idea to Mrs. Botti and Mr. Waldron. He also went to the Board of Education to get the club approved. HOSA is in its first year; it is a brand new club which was approved in September. They are still in contact with the New Jersey chapter getting all the paperwork done, to end up starting their own chapter here. Mrs. Botti commented about the club and its benefits, as she stated, “This is a great club for anybody who is interested or thinks they might be interested in any medical field, whether that is doctor, nurse, or EMT, it just allows students to explore those different avenues for further careers and see if it might be something that they are interested in.” HOSA is a club designed for students across the world who are interested in pursuing a career in healthcare and those who would like to gain a better understanding of healthcare. HOSA’s overall objective is similar to that of FBLA’s and FFA’s. Members of HOSA will choose from a wide variety of written and practical healthcare competitions. Competitors have a chance to compete at state and international levels, should their scores get them there.
In October, Mrs. Botti and Ryan got in contact with the NJ HOSA and registered the NHS Chapter. From that point forward, Mrs. Botti and Ryan have been working hard to get the club ready for NHS students. They anticipate students will be able to join the club as early as late October. Ryan’s goal for the club was to get started this year so that he could have two years of it established, and then have younger people involved so that when they become an upperclassmen the club will continue to be strong and have lots of leadership. Ryan stated, “I am so excited to inspire compassionate, quality healthcare professionals by providing them opportunities for knowledge, skills and leadership development.” Ryan has had multiple meetings with the administration and gave a presentation to the Board of Education over the summer about his thoughts for this club. Ryan made an incredible impact for HOSA, this was his idea that ended up coming to life and provides many strengths and advantages for peoples futures.
The new clubs in Newton, The Brave Bulletin, E-Sports, Tabletop Gaming, Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA),Volleyball Club are all recent or new clubs that give students the opportunity to branch out and choose a club. It is a great way for students to participate in a club they enjoy, find intriguing and which can be beneficial on college resumes.
